(September 3, 2013 at 2:27 am)genkaus Wrote:(September 3, 2013 at 1:47 am)CapnAwesome Wrote: I didn't mean to imply that it was just limited to evolution, but I do believe the question is where does morality come from. If you are talking about in an overall sense for human beings I think the answer has to be evolution. The same as we evolved out intellect we evolved our morality. That our intellect is separate from animals does not mean that it is somehow not from evolution. I didn't mean to imply that our individual morality is the result of evolution. It's obviously a factor of culture and other factors. But as a species morality has helped us survive.
In that case, the answer to everything would be evolution. If I ask where science comes from, the answer would be "it comes from our ability to perceive and draw rational conclusions, which in turn, comes from evolution - therefore science come from evolution". The same goes for law or logic or aesthetics - they all come from evolution. I regard that answer as trivially true, but essentially meaningless. When discussing morality in a philosophical context, the question "where morality comes from" refers to its function and need, i.e. its final cause, not efficient cause. And evolution is not a sufficient explanation for the content of our current morality.
Of course the nice thing about it is that God also therefore comes from evolution too.
